John Wiley Price was among those calling for a greater focus on mental health services. (Brendan Sullivan/DMN file photo)

Local mental health advocates gathered Thursday morning with County Commissioner John Wiley Price to push Texas legislators to provide more funding for local mental illness and substance abuse treatment.

Texas ranks 49th, above Idaho, in mental health funding, spending $38.99 per person compared to the national average of $125, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. In North Texas, NorthSTAR delivers services to indigent adults and children through a network of providers in seven counties. The region, made up of Dallas, Collin, Rockwall, Navarro, Kaufman, Hunt and Ellis counties, serves 24 percent of Texas’ population needing mental health services. It receives 13 percent of the state-wide funding.

“With Senator Royce West, we’re asking for adequate funding,” said Price who leads Dallas County’s Behavioral Health Leadership Team and hosted the press conference. The state senator assured the group that the issue was one of his priorities this legislative session.

Several stakeholders spoke on the effects of mental health on the criminal justice system, calling jails last resorts and alternatives to mental health treatment.

“It’s a revolving door and people are coming back over and over,” said Dallas County’s chief public defender Lynn Richardson.

Dallas County Criminal Justice Department Director Ron Stretcher said more Texans with mental illness are in jails and prisons than in hospitals, and it costs 11 times more to treat people with mental illness in jails than in the community, according to data from NAMI Dallas.

“When people are getting what they need, getting their medication and seeing their case managers, we as tax payers benefit,” Richardson said.

Officials said NorthSTAR’s delivery system is strained. Though there is no waiting list for services and everyone who shows up for help gets served, the quality of services needs improvement. Some clients must wait for their appointment or to receive medication for hours.

Kristin Wade, Judge of the County Criminal Court of Appeals, said many people who show up in her court are not keeping up with their routines such as seeing a case manager and refilling prescriptions, which might worsen their criminal actions. She said the severity of crimes seems to increase when those in her court are not receiving their services.

Price said that following several mass shootings in the past year, including in Newtown, Conn. and Aurora, Colo, he hoped that state legislators, who convene in Austin next week, would make mental health a priority in finding ways to keep the public safe.

“People are preoccupied about gun sales and gun control,” Price said. “But we want to make sure mental health doesn’t get lost in these conversations.”